CHICAGO — Defense attorneys in the politically charged “Broadview Six” case accusing a group of Democrats and other protesters of conspiring to impede immigration agents argued in a court hearing Wednesday that recent events in Minneapolis have augmented the need to keep evidence in the case public.

The comments came during a hearing before U.S. District Judge April Perry on a flurry of defense motions, including requests to limit a protective order on discovery materials and order the Department of Homeland Security to preserve surveillance footage in the days before and after the Sept. 26 incident.

Defense attorney Terrence Campbell told the judge the protective order suggested by prosecutors, which would keep portions of exchanged evidence “for attorneys eyes only,” was too restrictive and “creates all sorts of problems” in a case of such public importance.

“You don’t have to look any farther than the last 2½ weeks of news to know it is very relevant to the public how federal law enforcement officers from ICE and Homeland Security are behaving and interacting, and whether they are instigating,” Campbell said, a reference to the killings of two U.S. citizens by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota. “We can’t leave our common sense at the door.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg agreed that the case was political — and noted some of the defendants were using it in their campaigns for elected office.

“I would like to try the case in the courtroom, and not in the media,” Mecklenburg said.

That prompted a quick response from defense attorney Christopher Parente, who noted that DHS officials were the ones who put out a news release in October after the charges were filed, quoting Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saying no one was above the law.

Perry smiled back at Parente and said, “Your indignation is noted for the record,” drawing chuckles in her packed courtroom.

During the 30-minute hearing, Perry said she will order DHS to preserve five days of footage from the ICE facility in Broadview surrounding the incident in question. She also told the parties to talk with each other about the protective order and submit a revised proposal.

The lively discussion Wednesday was further indication that the politically heated case is headed for a courtroom showdown this spring. The parties discussed a potential trial date in May, but nothing was officially nailed down.

The Broadview Six indictment is the last remaining high-profile criminal case stemming from Operation Midway Blitz last fall, and one that has drawn national attention.

The U.S. attorney’s office so far has had a woeful track record when it comes to prosecuting such cases, with charges either rejected by a grand jury or dismissed outright for some 17 defendants before getting to trial.

Another defendant, Juan Espinoza Martinez, was acquitted last week by a jury of murder-for-hire charges alleging he put a bounty on the head of Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino.

None of the 32 defendants charged so far has been convicted.

As for the Broadview Six trial, Mecklenburg said Wednesday the government’s case could take about three days to present, though it was difficult to predict because she expects lengthy and vigorous cross-examinations. She also warned the judge “it will take a while to pick a jury in this case too.”

“Fair enough,” Perry replied.

Among those charged are four Democrats: Katherine “Kat” Abughazaleh, 26, who is running for the 9th Congressional District seat; former Cook County Board candidate Catherine “Cat” Sharp, 29; 45th Ward Democratic committeeman Michael Rabbit, 62; and Oak Park Trustee Brian Straw, 38.

Also charged were Andre Martin, 27, originally of Providence, Rhode Island, who is Abughazaleh’s deputy campaign manager, and Joselyn Walsh, 31, a garden store worker and singer who has no personal connection to the other defendants.

All six have pleaded not guilty to an indictment alleging they conspired to block a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent from entering ICE’s processing facility in west suburban Broadview during one of a string of protests that occurred outside the two-story building during Operation Midway Blitz.

According to the 11-page indictment, the group surrounded an ICE vehicle outside the Broadview facility during a Sept. 26 protest and “banged aggressively” on the vehicle’s side and back windows, hood and doors before they “crowded together in the front and side of the Government Vehicle and pushed against the vehicle to hinder and impede its movement.”

Prosecutors allege the protesters scratched the vehicle’s body, broke a side mirror and a rear windshield wiper, and etched the word “PIG” into the paint.

Meanwhile, a court filing by prosecutors earlier this week provided more insight into how the conspiracy charge may be laid out for a jury. According to the filing, videos from earlier in the morning show “at least some of the defendants” walking back and forth across the driveway of the Broadview facility, as well as other businesses.

“The videos show that as cars turned into the driveway, some demonstrators, including some defendants, attempted to walk in front of the cars and prevent them from proceeding,” the prosecution filing stated. “Each time, Broadview police had to walk toward the demonstrators and direct them to ‘make a hole’ to allow cars to proceed.”

The filing also revealed the vehicle that was ultimately damaged was driven by an ICE supervisor. “Fortunately, due to the ICE supervisor maintaining a cool head and continuing at an extremely slow and cautious pace, nobody was hurt,” the filing stated.”

The indictment includes the conspiracy count, which carries a maximum sentence of six years in federal prison, as well as several other counts of impeding a federal officer, each punishable by up to one year in federal prison.

The charges have been met by accusations that the Department of Justice under Republican President Donald Trump was prosecuting free speech and trying to punish political opponents.

Abughazaleh’s attorney, Josh Herman, has blasted the indictment as a politically motivated farce that attempts to turn “a protest into a criminal conspiracy.”

On Wednesday, Herman told the judge he would likely be filing a motion to dismiss the conspiracy count on First Amendment grounds, saying the “basics for any conspiracy” allegation were missing from the indictment.

“Where does it begin? When does it end? That is a concern,” Herman said, noting that if the government’s theory were true, then anyone outside the Broadview facility that day could be part of the conspiracy.

After court, Herman told reporters in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse that having the case hanging over her head while running a campaign has been a “tremendous weight” for Abughazaleh, and that if they don’t succeed in getting it dismissed they’ll ask for a quick trial date.

“I think collectively we want to bring this case to trial sooner because of everything that is happening in this country right now with the DHS,” Herman said. “We think what this case would ultimately do is expose one more overreach.”

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